Friday, December 1, 2017

Perhaps it might be helpful to share with you a little of my
own prayer journey, not so that you can compare your story with mine, but
simply to offer one example. As I have tried to underline, for each of us our
story is unique. Instead, you might find elements that are common in your story
that you would like to share, or that you have questions about. Feel free to
respond in the comment section of this blog and add your comments and
questions. I would love to talk about them with you.

Prayer Scriptures:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to
the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2: 42)

My Reflections:

Like many
others, I grew up in a Christian home, where prayer was very much a part of our
family life. As a little child, I was taught to kneel by my bed at the end of
the day repeat, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” It took a few
years for me to understand what that was all about. I have noticed now that the
usual format for this particular prayer goes something like this. “Now I lay me
down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May God guard me through the night. And wake me with the morning light.” I think that is much less frightening for a
child.

From: Google Image

Prayer Scriptures:

“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we
expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to
the women who had gathered there.” (Acts 16: 13)

My Reflections:

The next
part of this initial rote prayer that I learned, I liked from quite young. It was
the recitation of all the family and friends. “God bless Mommy and Daddy,
Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher, Grandma and Grandpa Evans, Great-Grandma Evans,
all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and friends.” Then, as I grew older and
learned the names of all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and new cousins
were added to the family, I would add each name and the ever growing list would
delay bedtime just a little bit longer.

Then I
would finish with, “Make me a good girl. For Jesus sake. Amen.”

It is interesting that still today in my intercession, I
include the names of all of those in my extended family and I have also added
the names of those in my husband, Glen’s family. Those dearest to me are
remembered in prayer daily.

Prayer
Scriptures:

“May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of
which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer
your servant prays toward this place.” (I Kings 8: 29)

“…then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold
their cause.” (I Kings 8: 45)

Your Reflections:

What was your early experience with prayer?
Did your parents teach you a rote prayer like this? Do you still use it? What
elements from your early prayer experiences have you brought into your adult
life?

Monday, September 26, 2016

We need to
remember that the journey of prayer is dynamic. We do not just offer our prayer
to God and then forget about it. That would be like dropping it in a slot
machine and waiting for the answer to drop out, without our engagement in the
process.

Our life of
prayer is constantly changing. That is why I focus on the journey of prayer.
Many of the things that I have learned relate to the gift of prayer or as it is
often called the gift of intercession. Even if you do not believe that you have
this particular spiritual gift, I believe that every Christian will at some
time face the need to intercede for someone. Those who do not have this calling
as a spiritual gift, need not feel guilty or inadequate in any way because they
are not like those who have been given this gift.Their prayers can be equally effective.

Prayer Scriptures:

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
(Matthew 21: 22)

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that
you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11: 24)

My Reflections:

I do not
know why God chose to give me the gift of prayer, but for a long time I was
quite reluctant to talk to others about my life of prayer. I possibly might
never have done so, had my husband not begun to refer to it from time to time.
The problem was that when people heard about my extended times of prayer others
would feel that in order to honour God they also had to include that particular
discipline in their lives. This is not necessarily true. The wonderful thing
about the life of faith is that each of us has our own unique journey with our
own guide, the Holy Spirit who lives within us. He never imposes the same
pattern on each of our lives, but with respect for our uniqueness, He leads us
in the way that will most effectively enable us to develop into the people He
desires us to be.

Prayer Scriptures:

“I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be
praised, according to all the Lord has done for us— yes, the many good things
he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.”
(Isaiah 63: 7)

My Reflections:

The most
important element in our prayer journey, as in all parts of our development in
faith, is what I call the orientation of our hearts. If our hearts are open to
what the Spirit wants to teach us and to His guidance in our lives we will
appreciate what He is doing and will become effective for His purposes. We will
be open to trying new methods to be effective in the development of our
spiritual lives that are in tune with the leading of the Spirit. We may learn
them from comments from someone else, or something that we read or hear or an
idea may come to us seemingly from out of the blue.

Monday, September 19, 2016

There are
two significant differences that we need to take into account in our journey of
prayer. First of all prayer is a spiritual discipline that is essential for all
Christians to practice in order to grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Prayer
is also a gift that is given to some Christians in order to enable them to
intercede for others with intentional prayer on specific topics for specific
people. As with so many things in the spiritual life, there is not always a
clear demarcation between these two things.

When I come into the Lord’s
presence in the early morning for my prayer time, I do not say, “Okay during
this time I am going to practice the spiritual disipline of prayer,” and then
at some time suddenly switch and say, “Now I am going to start my intercession
for others.”

Prayer Scriptures:

“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11: 1)

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message,” (John 17: 20)

“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (Acts 1: 14)

My reflections:

By the way,
I would be grateful if you would like at any time to post your comments at the
bottom of this blog, if you have questions or concerns about anything I am
saying. I have lots of material on the subject, but my real desire is that this
blog be a practical, learning experience for all of us. So please do not
hesitate to speak up in the opportunity that the comments provide for that.

Prayer Scriptures:

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight,” (Philippians 1: 9)

Your Reflections:

Does the concept of prayer being both a
spiritual discipline and a spiritual gift make sense to you? What are your questions
or concerns

The Journey of Prayer

Eleanor Shepherd, a Salvation Army officer
has a repertoire of over 90 articles published in several countries. A speaker
at conferences, in Canada, the USA, France, Belgium, Switzerland, South Africa,
Australia, Haiti and Jamaica, her story appeared in Hot Apple Cider. Her
book More Questions than Answers, explains her style of evangelism
by listening.

About Me

Eleanor served as a Salvation Army officer for thirty years in Canada and Bermuda and in France. She worked for Opportunity International Canada from 2009 to 2011, as the Director of Philanthropy for Quebec and Atlantic Canada. She is passionate about serving the poor and making a difference in the lives of women and children especially.
Eleanor is an award winning author. In 2009 she won an award for Living Outside our Comfort Zones in the anthology Hot Apple Cider. In 2011 her book, More Questions than Answers, Sharing Faith by Listening won The Word Guild Award in the Christian Leadership category. Christianity Today gave her book a four star rating. In 2012 she won Short Feature award for her article The Mosaic in Breakthrough magazine.
Along with her husband Glen, who is currently the President of Health Partners International of Canada, Eleanor has two adult children John, who works on developing programs for people with spinal cord injuries and Elizabeth who is a professional jazz musician who has had three Juno and a Polaris nominations. Eleanor and Glen are grandparents to Sanna Madeleine Hultqvist-Shepherd.